The Mansion.
Everyone " HUH?"
Ram proceeded to explain shamans and curses and how they work. After a minute of explaining, Subaru spoke up.
Subaru " Is there any way to remove it?"
Ram " I just did, consider you guys lucky I was here."
Emilia " Now what? We can't leave the kids with a witch beast."
" Is that what they're called?"
Emilia " Yep, don't know which one though."
Ram " It's most likely a Wolgram, the best course of action is to find a way to get it outside town. We probably have a few days, and the kids haven't been bitten yet."
Fukada " From one mess to another, we have no break, huh?"
Fukada exited the carriage with some signs of elegance.
Fukada " We need to find a way to separate the beast from the kids and drag it to a secluded spot. Then kill it and fabricate a story to cover it disappearance."
Ram " The forest is the best place, and it's most likely where the witchbeast came from."
Emilia " Then let's go! We have no time."
Subaru " Wait Emilia! If we go now, then it would cause panic!"
Ram " As much as I hate to say it, Barusus is right."
Emilia " Then…"
Ram " Best option is to come in a few days with a refined plan, and we can't let anyone else know. Not even Roswaal."
Emilia " Why?"
Ram " Trust me on this."
Emilia " Ook. I'll trust you. Should we go now?"
" Sure."
Everyone entered the carriage and we headed for the mansion. Soon after, Puck came out.
Puck " Hello everyone!"
Subaru " Hi Puck!"
Emilia " Did you rest well?"
Puck " Yep! I wanted to check in with you three about magic. You said you didn't know much about it before."
" Go ahead…"
Puck " First of all. Let me give an introduction to magic and mana. Mana, as you might've guessed, is what we rely on for spells and other things. There's Mana all around the air, however! We ourselves can't absorb mana, we need an organ called a gate to absorb mana. A gate can break if used improperly."
Puck " Mana is stored in the od. The od is basically your life vessel, if you run out, you'll become a shell of your former self."
Puck " For magic, there are 4 main affinities and two rare ones. Wind, earth, fire, and water are the mains while Yin and Yang are the rare ones."
Puck " Earth is mostly defense-type magic, wind is a support-type magic used to entrap or provide support for the main attackers. Fire is an attack-type magic which also controls temperature, which allows Ice magic. Which is what me and Emilia use. Water is mainly healing magic with a few good attack spells and transportation spells."
Puck " Yin magic focuses on slowing enemies, blocking vision and sound, and other things along those lines. However, there are a few attacks that only certain people know about. Yang is the exact opposite of that."
Subaru " Hmm, Ok! I understand!"
Puck " I wanted to check your affinities!"
" I'm curious about my affinity."
Fukada " I'm curious too."
Subaru " Ditto."
Puck " Ok! Give me a moment."
Puck floated to each of us and put his hand on our foreheads. A tingly feeling flew through my body and I felt oddly relaxed. I could hear my own heart beating too. After he finished my check, he moved to Fukada…
Puck " Huh? Now this is interesting! Near impossible too!"
Puck flew back to Emilia while we were left wondering what he meant by that.
Puck " Subaru, you have an affinity for yin magic! For you Yasuka, both Yin and Yang magic!"
Subaru " Ughh, you're technically stronger. Of course you are!"
Emilia " What about Fukada?"
Ram " Not going to lie, I'm interested too."
Yasuda & Subaru " Ditto."
Puck " Fukada, you are indeed very special. Everyone! Drumroll please!"
Everyone except Ram and Fukada drumrolled. After 10 seconds, Puck finally spoke!
Puck " Fukada! You have all 6 affinities! The only other person who has that is Roswaal!"
Fukada " HUH?"
Subaru & Yasuda " WHAT? NO FAIR!"
Emilia " Holy dundersticks!"
Subaru " I don't think anyone has used that word before Emilia."
Ram "...Very special indeed."
Fukada "..."
Fukada was speechless. Honestly, I would have the same reaction if I was her.
? " Lucky bastard."
Oh hello Ms Hidden-Identity.
? " Hello and shut up."
You're the one who contacted me! And speaking of that… Am I stuck talking to you now?
? " Yep! Expect me to interrupt every now and then!"
Great…
? " So yin and yang huh? Quite unexpected."
" What spells could I learn?"
Puck " The easiest is Shamac and Jiwald…"
Puck moved his focus towards Fukada.
More unexpected is Fukada, all 6 affinities?
? " Again, lucky bastard!"
I know, right? Why is she more powerful? I call hax.
? " I don't know what that means but I agree!"
Ok, talk later!
We finally reached the mansion and oh boy it was big! To think we'll be staying here for a few days!
Subaru " Woah…"
Fukada " It's huge!"
" What did you think? It's called a mansion for a reason."
Ram " You should be impressed, sister Rem and I are the only working maids right now."
Subaru " Really? Isn't that a lot of work?"
Ram " We can handle it."
Subaru " Something tells me otherwise."
Emilia " I kinda agree with you, Subaru. But she and Rem handled it with ease."
We entered the mansion and were greeted by a blue-haired maid and a tall clown man.
" Something tells me that man is trouble."
? " Sister, sister! Who are these guests?"
Ram " Rem, rem, they're the ones that helped Emilia retrieve her insignia and helped Reinhard defeat Elsa."
Rem " Reinhard defeated Elsa?"
Emilia " Yep, she was killed."
? " That wasn't supposed to happen!"
? " Thaaaat's great! My name is Roswaal L. Mathers."
" My name is Yasuda Toshio, he is Subaru Natsuki, and she's Fukada Toshio, my younger sister."
Fukada " Yep, yep!"
Puck " Oh Roswaal! Fukada has all 6 affinities!"
Roswaal " Reeeaaally? How Surprising!"
Roswaal " That's more unexpected! Why are things going off course from the Tome of Wisdom?"
Rem " Since you helped Emilia, she must've asked you here to find a way to repay you guys."
" Yep."
Roswaal " Weeell then, Ram. Can you take these guests to the third room on the second floor? Thaat will be their roooom!"
Roswaal " Meet me after noon, you three get a request each."
Ram " Sure. Let's go."
We followed Ram upstairs and to our room, the room had three beds lined next to each other with two desks. The desks were medium sized and relatively empty.
Ram " Make yourselves at home, I feel like I know what your requests are. If you want to explore, go ahead. Just come back here at noon."
Ram swiftly exited the room and we sat down on our beds.
" These beds are comfy!"
Fukada " Right?"
Subaru " I think we all know what our requests are."
" Yep!"
We were all on the same page.
" Let's split up for exploring."
Subaru " Sure."
Fukada went to explore the third floor, Subaru went to explore the first floor, and I stuck with the second floor.
When walking down the hall, a door glowed brightly. I was making my way to that door when a familiar voice spoke up.
? " Ah, a door hopping spell. Classic Yin magic. No one is supposed to see which door it's connected to."
And I can see it?
? " Thanks to yours truly! My authority allows you to spot fake objects as a togglable passive."
I never expected you to know what those words mean.
? " I knew someone who did, they came from your world!"
How exciting.
Opening the door, I see a blonde petite girl with drill-shaped twin tails. In her hand was a black book.
? " How did you find Betty's library I suppose?"
" Accidentally."
Betty " Leave now in fact."
" Aren't you going to introduce yourself to a new guest?"
Betty " Betty, keeper of the forbidden library I suppose. Now leave, I suppose, I'll help you in fact."
I have a bad feeling about this…
? " Oooh! Betty's gonna shoot someone out through the door again!"
Hk-!
Just as Betty placed her hand on my stomach, the mysterious witch's voice spoke.
Betty " Huh?"
? " Crap, I shouldn't have spoken. Betty must've heard me when she placed her hand on your stomach."
Great! Now she knows you're alive!
? " Completely my fault!"
Betty " W-why are you here I suppose? I thought you died in fact!"
? " It was a ploy to keep Pandora off of us. And to become strong too!"
Betty " I guess I shouldn't be surprised because it's coming from you I suppose."
" Can you tell me who she is?"
? " No!"
Betty " I won't reveal her name I suppose but I'll tell you her role in fact."
Betty " She's the Witch of Deception in fact."
? " BETTY!"
" The pieces are falling together. And Deception?"
Fit's her perfectly.
? " Let's leave!"
Betty " Finally, but come back in fact. I want to here what happened with your situation I suppose."
" I'm intrigued, but bye for now."
Leaving the room, I head back to my room.
" I just can't with her."
Tired from what just happened, I opened our room's door to see Ram cleaning.
" Hello Ram."
Ram " Hello Sudaya, you're back early."
" I just met Betty."
Ram " Ah- Makes sense. I'm surprised you managed to find the forbidden library. No one can meet Beatrice accidentally, you would need to ask before."
I flopped down on the chair, which was a rolly chair.
Ram " You said that you don't have knowledge of our written language, right?"
" Yep."
Ram " Give me a couple hours, I could arrange something for you three."
" Thanks."
I brought out my phone from my bag I forgot I had until now. It was connected to a solar-powered charger. Currently, it's at 62%
Ram " What's that?"
" Oh, it's called a cell phone. Or another name is a mobile device."
Ram " And what does it do?"
" Multiple things actually, it can take photos, videos…"
I continued to explain how it works, what it can do and…
" Finally, the accessories."
Ram " Hmm? I know about the charger but…"
I dug through my bag and found my headphones.
" These are headphones, this particular one can connect with a cable. But it needs to be relatively close to connect."
Ram " And what does it do?"
" It allows you to listen to sound from videos and music without others listening in. It's better to show than tell."
I showed the steps needed to connect, of course she doesn't understand anything witten. So I act as a translator. After I show her, she seems impressed.
Ram " I admit, this is pretty exciting. And it all runs on electricity."
Surprisingly, they have the concept and use of electricity here. Though it's obtained in different ways. Specifically, mana crystals.
Ram " Oh, it looks like I have to go now. I'll check on learning written language for you three."
Ram then leaves, leaving me listening to music while leaning on my bag on the bed.
Currently, I have some LoFi music playing. I have a whole USB filled with downloaded music too.
" Oh! My laptop!"
I quickly checked my bag to see that my laptop was indeed inside!
" I am so happy I brought this along!"
My stories, music, programming projects and a plethora of other things are here! So I can still continue with my current ideas-
" Later."
Closing the bag, I wait for the others in a happy mood.
They don't take long to come back, both of them look like they've been through a window.
" Beatrice?"
Fukada & Subaru " You are correct."
" I do have good news, I've brought my computer and charger!"
Subaru " Wait really? AWESOME!"
Fukada " If you would excuse me, I now have to take a new change of clothes. Being shot through a door really hurts!"
Ah.
? " HAHAHA! That's what I was waiting for!"
